Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

First Edition: May 13, 2015

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.

Kaiser Health News:
Radical Approach To Huge Hospital Bills: Set Your Own Price
In the late 1990s you could have taken what hospitals charged to administer inpatient chemotherapy and bought a Ford Escort econobox. Today average chemo charges (not even counting the price of the anti-cancer drugs) are enough to pay for a Lexus GX sport-utility vehicle, government data show. Hospital prices have risen nearly three times as much as overall inflation since Ronald Reagan was president. Health payers have tried HMOs, accountable care organizations and other innovations to control them, with little effect. (Hancock, 5/13)

The Associated Press:
INSIDE WASHINGTON: No Fallout For Congressional Health Plan
If the Supreme Court rules the way most Republicans want in the latest health overhaul case, GOP lawmakers who now have insurance coverage under President Barack Obama's law may wind up with some explaining to do. Members of Congress, staffers and dependents actually get their health insurance under a little-known provision of "Obamacare." But if the Supreme Court strikes down government health care subsidies for millions of people in more than 30 states, legal and benefits experts say coverage for lawmakers from those states won't be affected. (5/13)

The New York Times:
House Is Expected To Pass A Revised Abortion Bill
The House on Wednesday is expected to vote on a bill that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a revised version of a measure that Republican leaders abruptly pulled in January amid objections from some of their own members. The new version of the legislation, introduced by Representative Trent Franks, Republican of Arizona, would slightly loosen the original requirements for women who seek abortions after becoming pregnant through rape or incest, and would make it easier to sue a noncompliant abortion provider. The bill is expected to pass, said Destiny Decker, Mr. Franks’s spokeswoman. (Huetteman, 5/13)

The Wall Street Journal:
House Expected To Pass 20-Week Abortion Bill
The House is expected Wednesday to pass modified legislation banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, months after concerns from centrist and female Republicans derailed a vote on the bill. The legislation stands little chance of becoming law, as President Barack Obama is unlikely to sign it even if it clears Congress. Still, the bill highlights the challenges Republicans face tackling an issue important to conservatives without alienating some women voters ahead of the 2016 elections. (Peterson and Radnofsky, 5/12)

The Wall Street Journal:
Gay Couples Tie The Knot For Health Benefits
Wedding bells will ring later this year if the Supreme Court decides that gay couples are constitutionally entitled to marry. But health insurance, more than romance, may nudge some couples down the aisle. Amid a push that has made same-sex marriage legal in 37 states and the District of Columbia, some employers are telling gay workers they must wed in order to maintain health-care coverage for their partners. About a third of public- and private-sector employees in the U.S. have access to benefits for unmarried gay partners, according to a federal tally, but employment lawyers say the fast-changing legal outlook is spurring some employers to rethink that coverage. (Silverman, 5/12)

The Associated Press:
Lawmakers To VA: Find Another Way To Pay For Denver Hospital
Lawmakers from both parties said Tuesday they will not divert money from a new health care law to pay for a half-finished hospital in Denver that now is expected to cost more than $1.7 billion — nearly triple an estimate the Department of Veterans Affairs gave last year. The VA is asking Congress to redirect $730 million from the new Veterans Choice Act to complete the long-delayed hospital. The law was passed last year in response to a scandal over long waiting times for veterans seeking health care and falsified records to cover up the delays. (5/12)

The Wall Street Journal's Pharmalot:
Sanders Asks VA To Break Patents On Gilead And AbbVie Hep C Drugs
The ongoing debate over the cost of prescription drugs took another twist as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT.) has asked the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to use emergency powers to break – or override – the patents on high-priced hepatitis C medicines sold by several drug makers, including Gilead Sciences. The new hepatitis C treatments cure more than 90% of those infected and, in the U.S., cost from $63,000 to $94,500, depending upon the drug and regimen, before any discounts. Gilead markets Sovaldi and Harvoni, while AbbVie sells Viekera Pak. (Silverman, 5/12)

The New York Times:
Data Disclosure Leads Researchers To End Study Of Obesity Drug
A study of an obesity drug has ended after the manufacturer released early and ultimately misleading data, researchers said on Tuesday. The company, Orexigen Therapeutics, disclosed in March that early results from a clinical trial of its drug Contrave had shown a 41 percent reduction in the risk of heart attacks, strokes and death from cardiovascular causes. Orexigen’s stock shot up, and the information no doubt helped lift sales of Contrave. But the academic researchers who oversaw the study said on Tuesday that Orexigen had violated an agreement that the early results were not going to be shared widely, even within the company. Moreover, as participants in the trial were followed for a longer period of time, the benefit of the drug in reducing cardiovascular risks vanished. (Pollack, 5/12)

Politico:
Nurse Confessions: Don’t Get Sick In July
Many nurses call their profession—3.5 million strong in the United States and more than 20 million worldwide—a “secret club.” In the years I spent going behind the scenes in hospitals, I learned why. Their experiences are so novel, their jobs so intimate and occasionally horrifying, their combination of compassion and desensitization so peculiar, that nobody else could possibly understand what it is like to work in their once-white shoes. “Doctors breeze in and out. They do not share the most intimate moments with the patients, but they are the ‘important’ ones who get the media accolades,” a New Jersey nurse practitioner told me. “It is the nurse who holds the hand of a patient without a family, who talks to them while they take their last breaths. It is the nurse who cleans the patient’s body, wipes away the blood and fluids, and who says goodbye to the patient for the last time.” (Alexandra Robbins, 5/12)

The Washington Post:
Will Scott Walker’s Budget Troubles Hurt His Potential 2016 Bid?
The promised revenue from the Republican governor’s previous budget moves has not fully materialized, leading Walker and GOP lawmakers to propose another round of reductions — including cuts in funding for public schools, the university system, health-care programs and a slew of other programs. The Republican-controlled legislature says it won’t be raising taxes, no matter what, though it might increase fees for registering a car or visiting a state park. (Johnson, 5/12)

The Washington Post:
Bill De Blasio Proposing National Paid Family Leave That His Own Employees Don’t Get
When New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio rolls out his liberal response to the Contract with America today in Washington, his 13-point plan will call for a $15 minimum wage, universal pre-kindergarten programs — and paid family leave. That left some New York City employees scratching their heads: The half a million people who work for the city don’t receive paid maternity or paternity leave through their own health plan. In fact, New York City’s health plan lags far behind even the most basic Affordable Care Act plans when it comes to maternity care. The health-care plan is one of a number of plans grandfathered into the ACA, which means it doesn’t have to meet standards the law requires of other plans. (Wilson, 5/12)

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